MAE FLOWER
by Aggie Escott
Summary: Sequel to Stop Motion. Hotch is on sick leave when he meeta a strange woman in the diner. Hotch centric with Reid. Please review, my friends xx
1. The Meeting

**A/N This is a sequel to STOP MOTION but it can stand alone too. Please review – I'm trying something different....**

**MAE FLOWER  
**Chapter 1  
The Meeting

"_**The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed." – Carl Jung**_

It had been a difficult few months for Hotch. He had been fitted with a prosthetic half hand but he was clumsy with it, and couldn't get used to it. Hotch was not a man to give up, but he was frustrated that he couldn't learn to use it more quickly.

The little finger of his left hand itched mercilessly and was almost driving him insane. He sat at home trying to take his mind off it but usually ended up pulling the prosthetic off and biting at the stump. He had been in trouble with the surgeon for making it bleed, but it was the only thing that worked. The pain of the biting overshadowing the itching.

There were other pains too. When he exerted himself too much the deep cut in his chest hurt like hell. He tried to look at it this way; it could have been a lot bigger! But that and the problems he now had with his sinuses, he wondered if he would ever be well enough for work.

And he still had a limp.

A sorry excuse for a man he thought as he noticed his hunched reflection in the glass door on the way into the firing range. He was determined to get his average up to and beyond what it had been before Lomax broke his arm. At least that way he would be ready for work when the time came.

He smacked his hand deliberately against the wall as he limped to the firing range position one. He was meeting Reid here today – his twice yearly firearms test was due and as always Hotch was coaching him. Not that he needed it so much any more. His average was at least as good as the rest of the team. Except Dave of course.

'Hey! Hotch!' Reid called out as soon as he saw him. He tried not to notice that his left hand was bleeding. Hotch probably didn't even know.

'Hey!' responded Hotch with a small smile. He always enjoyed his time with Reid. He knew well of Reid's feelings for him, and although he couldn't return them in the same way, Reid was becoming a very close friend – a special friend.

He thought back to the early days of working with him at the BAU, his nervous movements and insecurities. But he had gained confidence and skill as a profiler, and Hotch was glad he was on the team.

Not his team, not at the moment – Dave was acting Unit Chief – But if things worked out well next week at the assessment board, who knows – it could be his team again at last!

Hotch picked up the ear protectors with his left hand and carefully tried to put them on. His slowness of movement was not lost on Reid, who was concerned for his Boss. Physio had said he had to use his left hand as much as possible. But it was so hard........ He gave up and used his right hand.

Hotch noticed the blood and chose to ignore it. So Reid did too.

The two friends set up their targets and practiced for about an hour. Reid was having an off day, and snatched off his eye shield in frustration.

'I've had enough.' he said. 'Fancy a coffee?'

'Yes', Hotch said. 'but not here. Let's go to the diner.'

They signed out and went to the car park. On the way, Hotch went to the men's room and washed the blood off the prosthetic, and replaced it. Much as he hated to wear it, it was better than the ugly (he thought) alternative. They decided to go in Reid's car. Hotch's hands were aching and he wanted to give them a rest

-0-0-0-

Hotch noticed the woman as soon as he entered the diner. She was everything Haley wasn't. Dark eyes, thick black hair and a pale complexion. Tall with an almost athletic build. Not a look he usually noticed. But he felt almost compelled to leave Reid where he was and go and talk to her. He shoved his hands in his pocket and sat facing away from her.

Reid got the coffees. Hotch could feel the woman's eyes burning into the back of his neck and it was all he could do not to turn around and stare at her. He berated himself for acting like a sixteen year old and not someone on the wrong side of forty...

_Come on Reid with those coffees!_

'You ok, Hotch?' Reid asked, putting the coffees down on the table. He tilted his head to one side. 'Are you in pain again? Do you want to go?'

'Uh..... No! No I'm f-fine!' he stammered, sounding far from it. Reid looked at him for a second, and then sat down. He decided to make it a quick coffee. Hotch was clearly unwell. Reid didn't want to harp on about it, but he wanted to get him home.

Hotch leaned forwards on his seat and spoke to Reid in a low tone.

'Do you see the dark haired woman at the back?' he whispered.

Reid glanced across to where several lone people were sitting reading the papers or eating.

'Which one?' Reid asked, glancing up surreptitiously.

Hotch frowned. 'Never mind. It's just that.....' he stopped, and Reid waited patiently for him to go on. When he didn't, Reid said,

'Just that what?'

'It's ok. I'm imagining things.' He touched his face carefully, forgetting that Reid watched his every movement.

'You're hurting again, aren't you?'

'A bit.' he answered. 'But nothing I can't cope with.' He picked up his coffee with both hands and took a drink. It was good coffee here, which was why it had become a favourite place for them to stop by after shooting practice. As he put his cup down, it slipped from his hand and tipped coffee into his lap. He stood up quickly as Reid reached for the serviettes.

'Ouch.' said Hotch ruefully. 'That's hot.' and thoughts of the woman behind him fled out of the window in a rush.

Dammit!

He dabbed at his lap while Reid went to get him a refill. He put the pile of soggy napkins on the table and watched Reid at the counter. He felt sad for him, saving up his love for him who couldn't reciprocate. But Reid seemed to be happy enough just being with him, though Hotch was certain that he harboured some "maybe one day" feelings.

Reid was back.

'Thank you.' Hotch smiled – and Reid's heart melted.

They sat in companionable silence while each thought back over the day. Reid had been working, and they had wrapped up a case today.

The highlight of Hotch's day was now.

He was desperate to get back to work.

Reid stood up. 'I won't be a minute, Hotch.' and he disappeared out the back to the men's room. Hotch splayed his hands out on the table in front of him and looked at them.

He had no finger nails, although they were stating to grow now, and the tips of his fingers on his right hand were pink and soft. They were recovering. His left was different though. Plastic covered his little finger and most of the next two fingers. His first finger was shorter than it was, and there was no nail yet.

So ugly, he thought. What woman would ever want these things touching her? He felt tears of regret behind his eyes as he thought how losing parts of his hand could have such a devastating affect on his life. He felt selfish thinking that when there were so many people much worse off than he was. Self loathing followed on the heels of regret, and he was so absorbed that he didn't notice someone sit up to the table opposite him in Reid's seat. It wasn't until she took his hands in hers. He looked up in shock.

'It does not change who you are, you know. You are still the same man as before you lost them.'

He looked up in surprise. His instinct was to pull away his hands and hide them. But he couldn't move under her gaze. He saw his own reflection in her eyes and was held in thrall by them. His mouth was slightly open and his eyes were wide.

'Hello....' he managed to say. 'Aaron...... I'm Aaron.'

Here eyes seemed to flash at him and he couldn't pull away.

'I know.' she said. 'It is you that must remember that.'

He stared at her as she turned his hands over in hers so that they were palms up, and one at a time she kissed each deformed fingertip. Hotch sat in shocked silence as she touched his fingers with her amazing lips. Then she rested his hands back down. With her finger she tilted his head up so that he was staring into her eyes again. Unable to blink lest he miss some of her, and feeling his whole body shake, he held his breath.

'Never forget who you are, Aaron.' and she was gone.

Hotch stared at the space that she had occupied in shock. Reid slid into the seat opposite him, but still he didn't move.

'Hotch, are you alright?' he said. He snapped his fingers in front of Aaron's eyes. 'Aaron!'

Hotch blinked and focussed on Reid.

'She was here, Spencer. She was here and she spoke to me and touched me.'

'Who was, Hotch?'

'The woman. The woman I told you about. She came and touched me.' He squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again.

'Didn't you see her? She was sitting right there.' Suddenly Hotch clamped his hand across his mouth and stood up. 'I'm going to be sick!' he mumbled behind his hand. 'I feel ill.'

'Let me help you!' Reid said, and put his arm around Hotch and led him to the men's room. Hotch knelt on the floor in front of the toilet and threw up. He coughed and gagged as his stomach knotted and cavorted, and he clutched at his abdomen in agony.

'She did this.' he gasped between heaving. 'She did this to me.'

'Who did, Hotch? Did she give you something? Has she drugged you?'

But Hotch couldn't hear what he was saying. Tears streamed down his face as he gasped for breath. The cut on his chest hurt and now his stomach felt as if it was on fire.

'God! Help me, Spence!'

Reid took out his phone. 'I'll get a doctor.'

'No!' he said hoarsely. 'Just stay with me!'

Reid put his hand on Hotch's back and rubbed gently as Hotch finally collapsed onto the side of the pan. Reid went and got a handful of paper towels and some water for him. When he came back Hotch was sitting on the floor with his knees drawn up. Reid wiped Hotch's mouth and eyes and threw the tissues into the toilet. Hotch took the rest of them and wiped his face.

He took a shuddering breath. 'I'm ok now, Spence.'

A man came into the men's room and looked for a beat too long at Hotch and Reid sitting on the floor, and decided to leave.

When he had gone, Reid asked, 'What did she do?'

I..... I d-don't know. She touched me. She touched my hands and my face.' Hotch put his head in his hands. 'I'm losing it, Spencer.' he said, fear in his words. 'Please, take me home.'

Reid put his arm around Hotch and helped him to stand, and he staggered slightly as they left the men's room and went through the diner and out to the car park. Hotch didn't notice how heads turned and watched the two men leave. Reid opened his car and carefully sat a helpless Aaron in the front seat, and strapped him in. He ran round to his side of the car and started up the engine.

'Tell me if you need me to stop, Hotch.' Reid said as they drove out of the car park.

'Mmm.' Hotch acknowledged. He was afraid to speak.

Reid drove quickly through the late evening traffic to the big empty house Hotch used to share with his family, now long gone. Reid often wondered why Hotch hadn't moved away, found somewhere with fewer memories, but then, memories were all he had.

He parked outside and helped Hotch out of his seat in the car. He used Hotch's keys to unlock the door, and he helped him climb the stairs to his bedroom. He laid him on the bed and took his shoes off, He turned him onto his side, and pulled the quilt over him.

'I'll be downstairs if you need me.' Reid said to Hotch, and left him to sleep.

Reid made himself a drink and turned on the TV, but he couldn't watch the film that was on.

What on Earth had happened to Hotch in the diner? Had he been drugged or poisoned? And the woman? Reid had seen no-one. He put his hand on his forehead and frowned.

Was Hotch losing it like he said? Or had there been someone?

He lay back on the couch and turned off the TV. They could talk about it in the morning.


	2. Dreams

**MAE FLOWER  
**Chapter 2  
Dreams

"_**Happy are those who **__**dream**__** dreams and are ready to pay the price to make them come true.**__**" - Leon Joseph Cardinal Suenens**_

_Hotch's dreams were filled with images of the woman. He groaned and cried out in his sleep as she touched him and sent shock waves through him. He rolled onto his back, his hands in front of his face as she tried to touch his lips, the agony and the ecstasy hurting deep into his soul. Her fingers were long and elegant, piercing his emotional armour and releasing feelings long forgotten. He put his hands over his face and curled forwards to protect himself from her........._

Downstairs Reid heard his cries and pushed the throw off. He understood the pain of nightmares only too well, and knew that the only way to free Hotch was to go up and gently awaken him. He quickly went upstairs to Hotch's room. For a few minutes he couldn't bring himself to touch him, and he watched him writhe and twist in the quilt, but when he suddenly cried out again, Reid went and sat on the bed next to him.

'Hotch,' he said gently touching his arm. 'Hotch, wake up.'

Hotch pushed his hand away and crawled to the edge of the bed. Reid tried again.

'It's ok, Hotch, you can wake up now. It's not real.'

_Some one touched his arm and the pain was agonising, cutting through him like a thousand knives. He pushed the hand away and crawled from it. But there was no where to go........  
"Never forget who you are, Aaron..... Never forget who you are, Aaron ......never forget...... never forget......"_

Reid shook him. 'Hotch, wake up now!'

Hotch's eyes snapped open and Reid was shocked to see real fear there. He took his hand.

'It's ok now, Hotch. It was a dream. It's gone now.'

'The woman........ she came back. I don't know what she wants, Spencer. Why did she come back?'

'It was just a dream, Hotch. She wasn't here.'

Hotch gripped Reid's hand. 'It seemed real, though. I thought..... I feel so stupid now.'

'Don't worry about it, Hotch.' he said. 'I'm always doing it.'

Hotch smiled a tight smile. 'I'm ok now, Spencer. You don't have to stay, you know.'

'I might as well stay the rest of the night. It's two in the morning.'

'Ok. I'm fine though, you know.'

Reid smiled, and left the room without saying anything else. As soon as he was gone, Hotch curled forwards. His stomach was in agony again. There was nothing to throw up, but still he staggered to the en suite and leaned over the toilet. He heaved and retched, but nothing came up except a few spots of blood. He washed his mouth out and cleaned his teeth, and limped back to bed again.

What the hell was going on with him? He could only think it was a form of delayed shock from the beatings and torture he'd been subjected to at the hands of Stanley Raymond's hired thugs.

But that was weeks ago! Why was this happening now, so close to him going back to work?

His finger was itching and he pulled off the prosthetic and threw it on the floor in frustration. He quickly undressed and put on his pyjamas and got under the quilt. The bed was cold and he lay rigid and uncomfortable for a while as his body heat warmed the bed, biting at the side of his hand.

He missed Haley's warm body holding him.

Suddenly, unbidden, the woman from the diner filled his thoughts again. He fell asleep as she lifted the cover and slipped into bed beside him.

-0-0-0-

When he woke up the next day the sun was shining across his bed in a bright golden beam. It was a lovely sunny winter's day, and he felt optimistic as he got out of bed and headed for the shower. He had dreamed of the woman again, but they were real dreams and weren't encroaching on real life this time. He turned the shower on hard and stood beneath the needle like bursts of water. It felt nice as he washed the blood from his hand and thought about the day ahead.

It was physiotherapy today. He thought of calling up and cancelling. All they were going to say was naughty boy for biting his hand, and give him the same exercises to do.

But if he cancelled, Garcia would find out and she would be mad. She cooked his dinner on physio days, and he didn't want to have to explain to her about why he had cancelled.

He slipped on his black jeans and a blue tee shirt and, rubbing his hair dry, he went down stairs.

Reid was gone, and he had left a short note on the kitchen work top.

"_Gone to work. Will call you later. SR"_

He threw the note in the bin, and put two slices of toast in the new toaster. He still had to clean the soot off the ceiling where the old one had caught fire. That was something he could do today.

Reid had already made the coffee and he poured himself a cup while he waited for the toast. He looked into the toaster warily. He got jam and butter out of the fridge and when the toast had popped (not burnt he was surprised to observe.) he took everything to the breakfast bar.

Yes. Today he would repaint the ceiling in the kitchen, but first of all, he needed to cancel the physio session.

He strapped on the hand, and stared down at it. Had the woman really kissed him? Touched his ugly hands?

Reid hadn't seen her, but then, she was probably gone before he came back.

Instead of physio, he decided he would go to the diner again for a coffee, just to prove that....... to prove.....

He didn't really know. But he had to go there. Just in case.

-0-0-0-

Penelope liked to cook. She was nothing like as good as Gideon; they had all eaten at his place at some time and his cooking was fantastic. No that would take some beating. But she liked to try new things, and today it was to be a Chinese from scratch.

She loved cooking for Aaron. He was totally hopeless, and this way at least she knew he had two meals a week that could actually be eaten. Most of the time he ate out or in the works dining room. But she loved this opportunity to pamper him. And she loved his kitchen; hardly ever used!

Her trolley was full of the ingredients she had on her list and went to the check out. She grabbed a bottle of nice white wine on the way past and hoped it went with the food. Aaron would never notice anyway! As long as it tasted nice he would be happy.

Happy.

Actually since his rescue from Raymond's gang, he had not smiled much. Even less than usual. She knew he was devastated by what had happened to him, and nothing she could say seemed to change his mood. What she really wanted to do was take him in her arms and hold him. But he had not made any move in that direction and she was afraid to spoil the special bond that they had.

Still. Maybe tonight was the night.

She thought guiltily about Kevin. He knew where she went on Tuesdays and Fridays, and if he was unhappy about it he never said. But in his shoes, Garcia knew she wouldn't like it. Was it trust, or the acceptance of the inevitable? She didn't know, and it was not a subject she cared to broach.

She pulled up outside Aaron's house and carried the bags to his front door. She didn't have her own key but Aaron had shown her where his "secret" key was – on top of the door frame. She kept thinking of telling him to move it – it was hardly difficult to find – but she always forgot.

She was surprised when the key was already in the door. Had Aaron cancelled the physio? She knew he hated going, but he said he wouldn't stop, because his return to work depended on his being able to use his hands dextrously again, and that was too important to risk.

She thought he had probably just forgotten to lock it.

She let herself in and put the shopping down on the counter in the kitchen. There were paint brushes in the sink and the ceiling had been painted. She chuckled to herself – he couldn't even make toast without almost burning the house down.

She washed the brushes out and wrapped them in newspaper from the recycling bin, and then she unpacked the shopping.

'Who the hell are you?'

Garcia jumped in fright. She looked up to see a woman standing at the kitchen door. A hard faced dark haired woman with a nasty scowl.

'I might ask the same thing!' she said, trying to keep her voice steady. Aaron had said nothing about this woman being here. Was she a new girlfriend? Garcia thought Aaron could do a lot better.

The woman advanced on Garcia, who stepped back in surprise. 'I always c-cook for him on Fridays.' she stammered.

'Not any more you don't, you fat cow, why would he want you around him. Now get out!'

Garcia stood rigid with shock. The woman took another step closer, and took hold of Garcia's shirt.

'I said, Get out!' she hissed into Garcia's face. Garcia thought she was going to cry. Surely this wasn't Aaron's girl friend. She was vile. Garcia began to back towards the door.

'Take all this crap with you!' the woman said, 'Otherwise I'll bin it.'

'Do as you please.' Garcia said and felt behind her for the front door. When she found it she opened it and fled. She ran to her car and drove around the corner where she stopped and burst into tears.

-0-0-0-

Hotch wasn't pleased with himself. He had lied to the physiotherapist; told her that he had a headache. She had wished him well and told him to rest in a darkened room. Her sympathy made him feel all the more like a heel.

He painted the ceiling in the kitchen without falling off the ladder and breaking his neck. And he had used the prosthetic.

Now he was sitting in the diner with a large latte which he needed to make last. If he arrived home at the normal time, he wouldn't have to explain to Garcia about the woman.

He felt a little foolish now he was there. A woman had spoken to him once, and now he couldn't think of anything else. She probably just felt sorry for him.

But still he didn't take his eyes off the door. Just in case she came in. He couldn't bare the thought of him missing her.

He went up for another coffee.

'Do you remember the woman who was in here yesterday?' he said to the girl behind the counter. She smiled at him.

'We have a lot of women in here.'

'This one came and spoke to me. I was wondering if she was a regular. She was dark and tall and she was sitting over there.' He pointed over his shoulder to the back of the diner. 'She was especially memorable.'

This time she laughed. 'To you maybe. I tend to notice the fellas.' She put the latte in front of him and he paid. He felt very silly as he went back to his seat.

He took a serviette and smoothed it out on the table in front of him and started to draw. Dark wide set eyes, dark hair parted on one side, full lips, straight nose. He sketched as his coffee cooled, and got some strange looks from other diners. The girl came over and topped up his drink without him even noticing as he tried to get the likeness of this woman on paper. It was hopeless though. He was no artist, and the woman's aura was impossible to capture on paper. The aura that had captured him.......

He screwed up the serviette and stuffed it in the now empty coffee cup, and he left the diner.

She hadn't come.

Was he ever going to see her again?

The thought of never seeing her did something to his stomach and he thought he was going to be sick again. He leaned against the car and took deep cleansing breaths.

Garcia was cooking him some dinner. He pushed the thoughts of the woman from his head and unlocked the car, wondering what delights she had in store for him tonight.


	3. Mae

**MAE FLOWER  
**Chapter 3  
Mae

"_**Meeting**__** you was fate, becoming your friend was a choice, but falling in love with you I had no control over.**__**" – Author unknown**_

Garcia sat in her car for a few minutes trying to pull herself together and failing. She knew she had to get away from there before Hotch was due home. She didn't want him to see her sitting here in the car. And the woman was right; she didn't want to be the unwanted third person. But she was devastated by the things she had said.

She decided to go and see Reid. He'd know if Hotch had a girl friend, and maybe talking about what had happened would make it feel not so bad.

By the time she'd reached Reid's apartment block, it all seemed a bit silly, and she almost turned round again and went home. But since she was there she thought she might as well do what she had come for. Reid was a strange guy, but she'd never known him to say a bad word about anyone, and spending time with him she knew would make her feel better.

She buzzed his apartment, and he let her in right away. As she went up in the lift she wondered how she was going to say what she wanted, but in the event, Reid made it easy for her.

'Hey Garcia!' he greeted her as soon as the lift door slid back. 'I thought you spent Friday evenings with Hotch!'

She smiled at him, but she knew he could see she'd been crying.

'What's happened, Sweet Heart?'

He put his arm across her shoulder and led her to his door. Once inside, she couldn't hold back the tears.

Reid was puzzled. He'd never know Hotch to be anything but the perfect gentleman. Surely he didn't....

He led her to a chair and poured her a drink. He took her hand gently and put the drink in it.

'What happened? Did Hotch?...........'

'Oh no! No. It was a woman in his house!' she said 'I went there as usual to cook his dinner, and there was a woman already there. She called me a......... She threw me out and was most unpleasant and threatening.' She looked up when she realised she had been staring down at her drink. 'Has Hotch got a new girlfriend?'

'Not that he's told me, Pen, and even if he did, I don't think she sounds like a woman that Hotch would like.' he said. 'I'll call him. What time does he get back?'

Garcia glanced at her watch. 'About now. But Reid, don't call him. She was probably insecure. I mean if she is his girl friend, I expect it was a bit of a shock when I turned up with food and wine and stuff.'

'OK if you're sure, Pen. But please stay for something to eat. I'm having a take out, but I've not ordered it yet. What do you like?'

'Well I was going to cook Chinese.'

'Right, Chinese it is.' Reid picked up the phone and a pile of menus he had on the table, and dialled the Chinese take out. Although he was not showing it, he was very upset. No one was allowed to hurt people he loved, and he decided that he would have a word with Hotch at the firing range the next day.

But for now, he had a lovely lady to entertain.

-0-0-0-

She pushed the food that Garcia had brought with her down the waste disposal. She didn't want Aaron to find it in the bin and start asking questions. She had her own recipe to prepare.

-0-0-0-

Hotch had stayed in the diner until the last possible moment. He wanted to go back in, just in case she only went there in the evenings, but he didn't want to tell Garcia he had missed physio, so as soon as the sickness had passed he got in his car and started to drive.

Love sick. That's what this was, and he was determined to get this woman out of his head. He was not going to ever see her again, and his life now had to carry on as if the encounter never happened.

He drove into his front garden and parked on the gravel drive. He still hadn't fixed the garage door, and now the garage was so full of stuff in there, he couldn't get the car in anyway. He was surprised that Garcia's car wasn't there, and he was even more surprised that the key was left in the door. He opened the door carefully, his hand on his gun.

'Garcia?' he said softly.

'She left.' a voice said. 'Said three's a crowd.'

_Oh my god, it's her........_

'Well, Darling, are you just going to stand there or will you come in?'

Hotch felt his body start to shake – he had been sitting in the diner waiting for her, and here she was at his house!

_Oh my god, it's her........_

She stepped forwards and took him by the hands. He was silent and trembling as she led him through his house and sat him at the table.

'I have cooked you some food, Aaron.' she said. 'I hope you like it.' Her voice was wonderful – like balm to his soul. He watched her every movement as she brought food to the table.

'Your name....'

'You want to know my name?' she asked. She sounded surprised. 'Why do you want to know my name? It won't change me; I'll still be the same.'

He stood up and flung his arms around her.

'I want to make love to you.'

He was trembling as he held her, where his hands touched her skin; he felt the shock of electricity as her aura mixed with his.

'Let me....... let me make love to you.....'

He tried to kiss her but she gently pushed him away.

'Dinner first, love afterwards.'

She unwrapped his arms from around her, and he felt a wave of dizziness overwhelm him as she put her hands against his chest and pushed him down into the chair. Hotch watched as she put the food in front of him, but his stomach heaved at the thought of eating.

'Eat it, Aaron.'

He looked at her with tear filled eyes.

'I want you. Please, tell me your name.'

She sat opposite him so that their knees touched under the table. Hotch almost cried out with the ecstatic pain it brought.

'Mae. I am Mae, Aaron Hotchner.' she said.

Hotch felt light headed.

'Mae.'

Spring time; rebirth; the scent of a dawning summer on the breeze.

She did this to him.

She reached across the table and put her hands over his. The shock waves made Aaron cry out as she ripped into his defences.

'I want you to eat, Aaron. Do it for me.'

With a shaking hand he picked up a fork and forced himself to eat. He couldn't take his eyes off her as she watched him. He wanted her so much he thought he would die.........

She stood and led him to the stairs.

'Now we can love.' she said.

Hotch felt tears run down his face as he thought of making sweet love to this woman.

Mae.

'Such a beautiful name........' he murmured as he followed her up the stairs into the bedroom. He stood and watched her undress and then as she touched him, he moaned with an inner elation that he had never felt before.

And he lay back on the bed and drew her to him.

As he raised his eyes to her and drew her close, she dug her shining nails into his neck, and his eyes rolled in their sockets. He passed out with a gasp of sudden pain.

She quickly and deftly stripped him, and rolled him so that he was beneath the quilt. She lay down briefly as if she had spent the night.

From her bag she took a single sprig of May flowers and rested it on the pillow.

'I am not ready for you yet, Aaron Hotchner. But you will not know that.'

Her eyes hardened as she watched him sleep. She really wanted this over as soon as possible, but the time wasn't yet. She had him in her spell. But there were others who would try to break it. These would have to be dealt with first.

-0-0-0-

Garcia was having a hard time forgetting what had happened. 'What shall I do on Tuesday, Spencer?' she asked over a plate of Ben and Jerry's. 'Should I go as usual?'

'Leave it to me, Sweetheart. I'll sort this out for you.'

'I don't want him to think I've abandoned him.' she said.

'He won't, I promise.'

When she had finished the ice cream, she stood and reached for her coat.

'Thank you, Spencer, for listening to my wittering.' she said sincerely. 'I really didn't want to drag you into this, but I couldn't think of whom else to go to.'

Reid stood up and hugged her.

'It's fine, Pen. It's what friends are for.' he said, kissing her lightly on the cheek. 'Any time, you know that.'

She smiled – really smiled – at him, and picked up her bag.

'I see him tomorrow at the firing range.' he said. 'I'll have a chat with him about her.'

After she had gone, Reid sat for a long time thinking about it. He was sure that Hotch didn't have a girl friend. So who was this person in his house? He looked across at his phone, wondering whether or not to call him. But then if he was 'entertaining', he wouldn't take kindly to being checked up on.

No, he decided. It's best left until the next day.

When there was a knock on the door, he thought it was probably Garcia again. He glanced round to see what she had forgotten.

When he opened the door he was surprised to see a tall dark haired hard faced woman standing there. She stared him down with her sharp brown eyes.

'Oh...' was all Reid managed to say before she put her hands on Reid's chest and pushed him into his hall way.

'Keep away from Aaron Hotchner.' she hissed at him, pushing him against the wall. 'He doesn't want you; you are just a filthy pervert. The likes of you should be drowned at birth. If I catch you touching him, I'll kill you!'

Reid looked at her in surprise. Was this the mysterious girl friend? He took hold of her wrists and pushed her away from him.

'Aaron Hotchner and I are friends, not that it's any of your business.' he said angrily. 'He chooses his friends for himself. Don't think you can push.....'

His sentence was cut off in the middle as the woman punched him hard in the eye. He was so shocked it knocked him off balance, and he fell side ways into the wall. He went for his gun, but she kicked his hand out of the way and drew her foot back to kick him again. A pointed shoe to the groin and Reid was curled up on the floor moaning in pain. She ground a spiked heel into the back of his hand as he tried to get up. He yelped as he tried to pull his hand away, but she held his hand fast.

'Don't mess with me, Spencer Reid, and keep out of Aaron's life.' she said. 'He belongs to me now, for as long as I want him. So keep your filthy pervert hands off him.'

She turned around, twisting her heel into his hand again, and made for the door. Reid watched her go in absolute shock. Surely Hotch wasn't involved with this woman?

She slammed the door after her, and it was only then that it occurred to Reid to wonder how she got in.

He stood up dizzily and washed his hand under the tap. He checked his eye in the mirror. It was already starting to discolour. He was going to have a nice black eye in the morning.

What the hell was going on here? He needed to speak to Hotch about it, and decided to call him.

He let the phone ring for a while and hung up.

_What are you doing with this woman, Hotch? For goodness sake, be careful!_


	4. Between Two Realities

**MAE FLOWER  
**Chapter 4  
Between Two Realities

"_**If you love somebody, let them go. If they return, they were always yours. If they don't, they never were.**__**" ANON**_

Aaron woke in the night with a terrible stomach ache. He struggled off the bed and crawled to the toilet where he was violently sick again.

'Mae...' he gasped, trying to look around for her. 'Mae.... help me......'

His stomach was empty and his muscles screamed in his chest as he tried to control what was happening to him, but it was beyond him. Mae had gone. She had left him, and he didn't know how to find her again.

What the hell was she doing to him? Why did he feel like this?

He wiped his face on a towel and crawled back to bed. That was when he found the May flowers on the pillow. He touched the blossoms and smiled, despite his gnawing stomach pains. Something from her. He was starting to wonder if she was a figment of his imagination, but this proved that she was real.

He gripped the sprig to his chest and fell asleep.

She was there in his dreams again. He reached for her but she was always too far away. He called out to her in his sleep, called for her to come to him, but she turned away from him, aloof and unmoved by his desperate pleas.

The dawn was breaking when he woke up again. He put the flowers on his pillow and tried to sit up. His stomach was still hurting, and his neck was sore. He staggered to a mirror and looked at his neck. There were two deep puncture wounds over his carotid – she must have scratched him when they made love.

He sat on the bed frowning.

Had they made love? He couldn't remember the night before, just the dreadful longing she left him with.

'Mae..... Where are you?' he whispered, clutching the dying flowers to his chest.

-0-0-0-

He went downstairs to make coffee and have something to eat, but when he got there, his stomach protested at the thought of food. He made strong coffee and took a sip and threw the rest into the sink. He sat on a stool with his head in his hands. He felt "wrong" and he couldn't understand what was happening.

He went back up stairs and stood in the shower. He closed his eyes and turned the tap on full. The water came out icy cold to start with and it made him shudder and gasp. His legs were hurting and his chest muscles protested at each breath.

As the water warmed up he started to think about Mae again. She was doing something to him, and he wasn't sure if he liked it.

He got out of the shower, still not having made up his mind what to do. He rubbed his body dry and got dressed. He decided to go for a walk into the town. Being with other people would make him feel better.

He strapped on the prosthetic and his stomach twisted inside him; he tried to ignore the hunger pangs and he left the house, locking the door behind him.

At the end of the path stood Mae. It was a bright day again, but cold. Mae was wearing a simple white cotton dress, and Aaron felt weak with desire.

'I thought I'd come with you.' she said. Aaron put his hand out to take her, but she moved away from him, smiling coyly over her shoulder.

'Into town, right?' She ran from him playfully and he tried to catch her, but he couldn't move fast enough and she was out of his sight too quickly. When he got to the corner of the road, she was gone.

-0-0-0-

Reid arrived at work the next day sporting a black eye and a bandaged hand. He was walking bent forwards, and he could still feel her pointed shoe in his groin.

'What happened to you?' Morgan said in surprise, watching Reid sit carefully down at his desk.

'You should've seen the other guy.' he answered lyingly.

'No seriously, Kid,' Morgan said, coming over to his desk. 'What happened? Were you mugged?'

'Something like that.' Reid said, and opened his drawer as if to find something.

Conversation over.

When Rossi saw him it was a different matter.

'Reid, a word in my office please.'

Reid sighed. It was no body's business what happened. He hadn't even told Garcia. Still it looked as if he was going to have to say something to David.

'So, what happened?' he asked as Reid took a seat opposite him.

'When does Hotch come back to work?' Reid said.

'Reid, I want to know what happened to you.'

'It's connected, Rossi. When does he have the hearing?'

'Thursday. Now.....'

'I think he might be in trouble, Dave.' Reid said. He told him what happened in the diner, and then about Garcia's experience.

'She did this to me.' Reid said. 'I didn't retaliate, but if she can do this, why is Hotch with her?'

Dave looked perplexed. 'She came into your apartment and beat you up?'

'She warned me off my friendship with Hotch. She was vicious. I'm worried about Aaron.'

'I'll have a talk with him – drop by his house tonight. I'll find out what's going on.'

'Thanks Dave.'

Reid left the office feeling a little better. It was time to meet Hotch in the firing range after lunch. He wanted to have a chat with him, but he was feeling nervous about it. He worked through lunch – he didn't think he could eat.

-0-0-0-

Aaron wandered miserably round town. He felt sick and hungry, but he dared not eat because he knew it would make him vomit. He stood and stared unseeing into a phone shop when a voice behind him made him turn.

'Mae!'

She took his hand and kissed his cheek, and Aaron thought he would pass out.

'W-where did you come from?' he gasped.

'I was always here.' she said softly.

There was a photo booth on the corner of the arcade. Aaron drew her to it.

'Let's go in here!' he suggested. 'Then I'll have a photo of you.'

She laughed. 'No. I hate having my photo taken.'

'Please, Mae. You're lovely. I need a picture of you!'

'I said no!' she shouted, letting go of Aaron's hand. People turned to look at them. Aaron stood shocked.

'I'm sorry. Mae.' he said in confusion.

'Forget it!' she hissed, and turned her back on him. He stood and watched her go, unsure of what he had done to upset her so.

'I'm sorry....' he said to her retreating back. She turned the corner, and Aaron followed her. But she had gone again. There was no one there.

It was time to meet Reid in the firing range. It was too far to walk so he took a taxi. He sat in the back of the car trying to figure out what he had done wrong.

_Please come back, Mae. I'm so sorry....._

-0-0-0-

Reid was already at the range and had emptied a couple of clips into the target, and he was quite pleased with the results, although he doubted Hotch would be happy with his performance. Hotch was late today, which was unusual, and he was just thinking that maybe he wasn't going to come, when he saw him sign in.

He was about to go to him when the receptionist said, 'Are you Agent Hotchner'

Hotch nodded weakly.

'This came for you.'

From under the table, he produced a bouquet. But not like one Hotch had ever seen before. It was a bouquet of leaves, from huge tropical leaves to tiny misty leaves. It was stunning and beautiful, and in the centre was a sprig of May blossom.

A tiny card said, "For you, Sweet Aaron. I love you."

He stood and stared at it. It was perfect, like everything about her. His stomach cramped again. She was gone. He had upset her by being stupid, and now she was gone!

Reid put down his gun and removed the goggles and ear protectors. He walked over to Hotch.

'Hey Hotch, I didn't think you........'

He trailed off when he saw the state of his friend. His features stood dark against the white of his skin, his cheeks were sunken and his skin looked paper thin. He looked ill, to the point of dying. Reid was frightened.

'I feel so sick.' Hotch said. 'I need the men's room.'

He put the bouquet on the reception desk and Reid put his arm out for Hotch to cling to and they went through the back of the range to the toilets. Hotch leaned on the corner of a basin and bent forward with his head in his hands.

'I upset her, Spencer, and she went. I don't know where she lives..... I can't get in touch with her..... She sent me that bouquet. What can I do? What if I never see her again?' He looked at Reid with bloodshot eyes. 'What if.......' He turned and vomited in the basin. Reid was horrified to see that he was vomiting blood. He rubbed his back and waited. Hotch coughed and gasped, and when he was empty again, he vomited nothing. He turned the taps on in the basin and he knelt down and rested his forehead on the cool edge of it and felt the water spray on his face.

'Aaron, I need to talk to you. It's important.'

Hotch looked up at Reid, and noticed his black eye for the first time. He touched it gently.

'What happened?'

'Someone in your house yesterday really upset Pen. I don't know who she was but I think it's the same woman who came to my apartment and beat me up.'

Aaron looked at Reid in amazement. 'It must be a misunderstanding, Reid. She is lovely. She would never hurt anyone.'

'She's hurting you, Aaron. Have you seen yourself?'

'I've picked up something. It's not her doing it.' He paused. 'It can't be. Garcia has made a mistake. She can be touchy sometimes. Probably the time of the month. And you must have provoked her. Mae wouldn't hurt anyone.'

'Hotch, she is bad news. She walked into my apartment and punched me in the eye, and kicked me. While I was down she ground her heel into my hand.' He held his hand up to show him. Hotch frowned.

'Why are you saying these things, Reid?' he said. 'She is amazing. Why don't you want me to be happy?'

'Are you happy?' Reid asked. 'Look at yourself!' He turned Hotch so that he was facing a mirror. 'You look sick. You look miserable. You don't look happy.'

Hotch turned to face Reid. 'I don't know why you're doing this, but...'

Reid took hold of Aaron's arms. 'Please, Hotch it's because I love you. I want you to be happy, but...'

Suddenly Reid dropped Aaron's arms and clutched his head. He screamed.

'Oh god! Aaron help me!'

'Spencer! What is it? What's happening?'

Reid fell to his knees with a crack on the tiled floor. He clutched at his head and fell sideways under the row of basins.

Aaron got his cell out and with shaking fingers called for help. He knelt next to Reid who was lying on his back and moaning in pain. Aaron tried to sooth him, but it was as if he wasn't hearing him. Reid pulled at his hair and whimpered in pain.

Aaron lifted his head off the floor and rested it on his lap. Reid tried to focus on Hotch but his vision was failing. Suddenly his back arched and he had a seizure. Hotch pulled Reid's shaking body close.

_What's wrong, Reid? What's happening?_

As the seizure subsided, Reid lost consciousness, and Hotch held him tightly to his chest. His body was trembling and his eyes were half closed. Hotch stroked his long hair out of his eyes. His skin felt hot and clammy under his cool fingers. He took Spencer's long delicate hands in his deformed ones.

'Stay with me, Spencer, don't you leave me. Wake up!'

He rocked back and forth, waiting for the medics to come, praying it wouldn't be too late.


	5. Concern

**WARNING – CHARACTER DEATH**

**MAE FLOWER  
**Chapter 5  
Concern

"_**Are you upset little friend? Have you been lying awake worrying? Well, don't worry...I'm here. The flood waters will recede, the famine will end, the sun will shine tomorrow, and I will always be here to take care of you." -Charlie Brown**_

Hotch sat on the floor with Reid lying on his lap. He was trembling and every so often a limb would twitch as if he was going to seize again. There was a trickle of blood on his chin and Hotch thought he had probably bitten his tongue. Hotch rocked back and forth.

'If you can hear me, Spencer, stay with us. If you can, open your eyes or show me that you can hear me.'

Reid tried to squeeze Hotch's hand, but the movement was so slight that Hotch almost missed it.

The paramedics burst into the room, and Aaron carefully relinquished Reid to them.

He had a strong heart beat and he was breathing on his own. They loaded him onto a gurney, and Hotch followed them out of the firing range to the waiting ambulance.

In amongst the trees, a hard faced woman was watching from the shadows. As Reid was loaded into the ambulance, a smile broke across her face.

He will not be interfering again.

-0-0-0-

David was shocked when Aaron called him. Reid was having an MRI scan. The doctors thought Reid had had a stroke, or he had a tumour. This was the way to find out which. Hotch had watched Reid's still body being wheeled into the scanner, and then he went outside to call Rossi.

'It was awful, Dave. He collapsed mid sentence. He said his head hurt, and he had a convulsion of some kind.' Hotch said. 'The doctor said he could have a brain tumour.'

Dave could tell Hotch was very scared by the way his voice was trembling as he spoke.

'I'll be right there, Aaron.'

Hotch broke the connection and thought back over the day. The woman who gave his life meaning had left him, and now he was in danger of losing one of his closest friends. He suddenly felt sick again.

He limped unsteadily to the men's room, and wondered why he should be feeling so ill. He hadn't eaten for two days, yet he was still being sick.

He leaned over the toilet as his stomach tried to eject what wasn't there. He heaved and gagged, and coughed blood into the toilet. He held his stomach with his hands and tried to control it, but he couldn't. His eyes were watering and he thought he was going to faint. When at last his body was through torturing him, he leaned back against the door and waited for the pains to go away.

He staggered to the wash basins and threw water on his face. The cold water was soothing and he closed his eyes with relief. When he opened them again he caught sight of himself in the mirror, and was shocked by what he saw. He was pale and gaunt and very sick looking. He had an unhealthy grey pallor and black rings around his eyes. His cheeks were sunken and his eyes had lost their lustre.

He leaned forward, resting on the basin, he closed his eyes and hung his head. He wondered if he was ill. But he still thought he had eaten something that was still upsetting him.

He left the men's room and joined the doctors checking over Reid's MRI.

'You will be glad to know', the doctor said, 'that there is no sign of a tumour. Nor is there any sign of a stroke or aneurism, or indeed anything else that could put him in a coma.'

He showed Hotch the scan results. 'This is the scan of a healthy man. All we can find wrong is the bruising to his knees where he fell. He shouldn't be in a coma. I don't understand it.'

'When will he wake up then?' Hotch asked, dismayed.

'We have no idea. We have some tests to run, but other than that, there's nothing we can do.'

Hotch followed to porters pushing Reid's bed back to the ward. Something Reid had said was going over and over in his mind.....

"_You look sick. You look miserable. You don't look happy."_

Reid was right. He was far from happy. What he felt for Mae wasn't love, it was a desperate desire that was totally out of control.

But he needed her. Reid was trying to persuade him to give her up, but he couldn't. He wanted her too badly.

But where was she? He hadn't seen her since she left him.

He sat in the chair by Reid's bed and rested his head in his hands in confusion. He felt so ill he could hardly think, and what he did think about was Mae. She filled his thoughts awake and sleeping. She was the centre of his universe.

He reached out and took Reid's hand. He leaned onto Reid's bed and gradually slipped into a nightmare filled sleep.

-0-0-0-

Dave decided to drive out to sit with Hotch. Hotch had rung him and told him what the doctors had said about Reid, and Dave thought that he ought to be with Aaron through this. They could take turns in sitting with him. When he got to the hospital, Aaron was still sleeping with his head resting on Reid's bed. He was obviously dreaming. He was moaning in his sleep, and his eyes were darting from side to side beneath closed lids.

'Aaron.' he said softly so as not to startle him. 'Aaron, wake up.'

He shook him gently and Aaron gave a gasp and opened his eyes wide.

That was when Dave got to see how ill Aaron looked.

'Whatever has happened to you, Aaron?' he said, shocked.

'I've been a little sick, that's all.' he said, not mentioning that Reid had said it was his relationship, if you could call it that, with Mae that was making him so ill. 'I'm fine.' he lied.

'Hotch, I want you to go home and rest, otherwise it will be you in here.'

'I can't.....'

'Yes you can. As a friend, I'm saying this. You need to rest.'

Hotch knew he was right. 'Ok, I'll go and get a few hours sleep. I'll come back in the morning.'

'I'll stay with Reid until then, Aaron. Just get some sleep before you drop!'

Hotch dragged himself wearily out into the cold evening air. The walk from the ward had exhausted him, and he sat on a low wall outside the main building to get his breath back. He leaned back against a hedge with his eyes closed to the harsh glare of the street lights.

'Hello Aaron.'

His eyes snapped open when he heard Mae's voice. It didn't occur to him to ask how she knew he was there.....

Mae!' he said, a surge of desire flushing his pale skin. 'I'm so sorry I upset you.' He turned towards her and put his hands on her hips. 'Please forgive me. This day has been hell, and I need you.'

'What happened?' she asked.

'My friend Reid, he collapsed, and no one knows why.' Hotch didn't notice the flash of a satisfied look in her eyes as he explained to Mae what had happened. He had forgotten about Garcia, and nothing mattered now he was with Mae again.

I need to go home to sleep.' he said. 'Please come with me.'

'I have a better idea.' she said. 'Let's go and have our pictures taken in that booth.'

Aaron looked at her in surprise. 'Are you sure?' he said. 'Don't do this just for me. If you don't want to, I understand.'

'Come on!' she said, taking his hand. Let's do it.'

They hailed a taxi and sat in the back as it drove into the town. Aaron longed to kiss her but every time he tried she would move away. He thought he would faint with desire for her.

The arcade was open late because the shops in there were open. They squeezed into the booth as the camera flashed, Hotch was laughing like a child. They stood outside and waited for the pictures to arrive, she pushed him gently against the booth and leaned on him. She kissed him softly on the cheek, and he held her head and kissed her lips.

'I love you, Mae, so much.' he whispered.

The spell was broken by a clatter as the machine delivered their photographs.

'You must have moved!' Hotch said with disappointment, showing her the pictures. While he was clear and in focus, all the images of her were blurred and impossible to see.'

'Camera's don't like me.' she said, and danced off away from the booth.

Hotch limped after her, determined that this time she wouldn't get away from him.

'Please', he called. 'Come back to my house with me.'

She turned and faced him. 'Ok' she said. 'Let's walk to yours.'

Aaron smiled happily. 'I don't think I can walk it, Mae. We could get a taxi.'

She put her arm around him to support him, and together they walked to the taxi rank. Aaron was tired and slow but she didn't mind – that fitted with her plans perfectly. They sat in the back of the taxi like lovers. She allowed him to kiss her and he did so nervously, eager to please.

When they arrived back at his house, he was too tired and ill to get out of the taxi without her help. She paid the driver and offered her arm to help Aaron out of the car.

'He looks as if he should be in hospital.' remarked the driver as she closed the car door. She ignored him and Aaron staggered to the door with her help. As the taxi drove away into the night, she unlocked the door and half dragged Hotch into the hall.

She removed her supporting arm and allowed him to drop to the floor. He rolled onto his back and looked up to her.

'Help me...' he whispered. She acted as if she didn't hear him, and stepped over his body. She held him under the arms and dragged him to the stairs. Somehow she had to get him to his bed. One step at a time, sitting him on each step, she pulled him to his bedroom where she finally lifted him onto the bed. His eyes were open and he looked at her pleadingly.

'Please..... help me....' he gasped. He was too exhausted to move. She pulled his shirt undone, and removed his trousers. He moaned in confusion, trying to reach for her, but she easily avoided him.

She left him there on the bed, pleading for help, and went back downstairs. She made two cups of coffee and tipped them down the sink, leaving the mugs on the table. Then she untidied the couch to make it look as if they had been sitting there. Finally she took a sprig of May from her bag and left it on the coffee table. Then she left the house, locking the door behind her.

-0-0-0-

Dave was still worried about Hotch. He had never seen anyone look so ill, and still be standing. He decided to follow him home and check on him. It was getting light now, and there had been nothing from Reid. He explained to the unconscious man that he needed to leave for an hour or two, and would be back later.

As he drove towards the Potomac Hospital he started to think about this woman with whom Aaron had become involved. It was since she entered his life that he had changed, not for the better. When Reid had told him about how sick he looked, Dave had thought that he was exaggerating, although if he had thought about it more, he would have remembered that Reid never exaggerated, and was always perfectly accurate.

It was when he was going down the hill on the way to the hospital that he was taken ill. The pain in his head was dreadful, and he took his hands off the wheel to clutch at his head. He put his foot on the brake automatically, and the car swerved to the left, scraping along the shallow cliff that bordered the road. The car turned in the road and hit the cliff.

Dave could feel the heat of the fire before he saw it, and tried to open the car door. His head was hurting and he couldn't see properly as he was fumbling at the door lock, but he couldn't open it. As he struggled, the flames grew fiercer, and the inside of the car grew hotter. He started to panic, another car came around the bend in the road and hit Dave's car. The side of his car crumpled against him. Now his leg was trapped, and he couldn't get out.

'Help me someone!' he cried through the window which was now broken. Flames were licking along the side of his legs and he screamed with pain as he fought to free himself. His clothes were burning and he saw the people in the other car try to get close to him. He reached out a burning arm to them, but they couldn't get close. He heard the whoosh of the fire moments before he felt the flames engulf him and he screamed and twisted in the car as he finally, mercifully, died.

From the trees at the side of the road, a hard faced woman smiled..........


	6. True Fear

**MAE FLOWER  
**Chapter 6  
True Fear

"_**Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood." – Marie Curie**_

Aaron had passed out on his bed where Mae left him. He was cold – he had no clothes on and he was on top of the bed.

And he was alone.

He called out for her but he guessed that he had been alone for a while. His stomach hurt again and he wrapped the quilt around him and staggered to the bathroom. He thought to himself that he maybe had something more than just a bug. He threw up blood into the toilet, and clutching at his wretched body, he fainted.

He woke several hours later on the bathroom floor with his quilt wrapped around him. He struggled to his feet and tried to make it to the door but he was too weak and he collapsed again. Using the door to pull himself up, he remembered that he was supposed to be going back to the hospital to let Dave go to work.

He felt a rush of guilt. He shouldn't have let Dave sit with Reid when he had to go to work the next day.

He slipped into jeans and tee shirt, and a sweat shirt over the top. The clothes were on the floor from the night before. He hated putting yesterdays clothes on, but he didn't have the strength to find clean ones. He needed to get to the hospital quickly.

He thought of calling Dave but he would have his cell turned off in the hospital.

He went downstairs, hanging onto the rail. He saw where he had been sitting with Mae the night before, and the flower she had left him.

His memory was going. He felt very ill. But he couldn't let Dave down.

He picked up his keys off the table, and opened the front door. The rush of cold dawn air hit him like a wall, and made him flinch. But he felt more awake, and didn't go back to get a coat. It occurred to him that maybe he was too sick to drive, but he pushed the thought aside and went to his car.

He took the car slowly through the streets, driving like a drunk walks when he's trying to prove he's not drunk. As he turned the corner to drive up the hill alongside the Potomac River, he saw a bright orange flash through the trees. He slowed down and rounded the corner and saw the two cars in flames.

There was a small group of people standing on the other side of the road watching the fire. Hotch stopped his car and crossed slowly to them.

'Is anybody hurt?' he asked, getting out his cell to call the ambulance.

'There's someone in the other car.' sobbed a girl of about eighteen. 'We saw him and he called for help but we couldn't get him out.' She broke down in tears.

'It was awful.' sobbed another young woman. 'He was trapped. He reached out to us but he was already burning.'

Hotch turned to the cars. It was only then that he saw the licence plate.

_Oh god no! Not Dave!_

Hotch got as close as the intense heat would allow him to. He could see the remains of the driver burning in his seat.

_Please, no! Please, not Dave!_

Hotch stood and stared at the burning wrecks, and the heat evaporated his tears before they had a chance to fall. He felt the heat on his skin. He felt the burning.

With a shaking hand he called Morgan.

-0-0-0-

Morgan was at Garcia's. She was still upset about the woman at Hotch's house, and she had just heard about Reid.

'He was going to ask Hotch who she was.' Garcia cried into Morgan's shoulder. 'And now something has happened to him. He called me to ask if it was ok with me to mention it to Dave as he is running the team. I can't believe this has happened.'

Morgan held her tight and pressed his face into her hair.

'It will be ok, Baby Girl. Reid will wake up, and everything will be fine. Now please don't cry. I'll be here for you.'

That was when his cell phone rang and his life changed forever.

-0-0-0-

'I'm on the Potomac River Road.' Aaron said, his voice shaking with grief. 'There's been an accident, Morgan. My god Morgan, I think Dave is dead.'

'Don't move, Hotch. I'm on my way.'

Hotch closed his phone and dropped it from weak fingers. He stared at the body in the flames.

_Please, don't be Dave....._

But in his heart he knew it was.

He was supposed to be at the hospital with Reid. What was so important that he was driving out here? Was he coming to see him?

_Dave, I'm so sorry......_

He suddenly felt faint and sick. He tried to sit down but he passed out on the tarmac. He was vaguely aware of someone running to help him, then his world closed and his nightmare began.

-0-0-0-

_She was there in the dream, but she was different now. Her face was hard and showed no love, only burning hatred. He called to her, begged her to love him again, but his head hurt and blood poured from his mouth and his vision dimmed..... her fingers shot fire at him and Dave was next to him, taking the fire to himself and burning up before him and she just laughed at his distress and anguish as his friend died in front of him...... and someone called his name and it was a safe place he was calling from and he tried to move but he was weak and pathetic and could just hear his friend screaming at him and he opened his eyes......_

'Hotch! Wake up, it's Derek. Wake up now. You are safe.'

Hotch raised his hands to Morgan. 'Dave.' he said.

'Hotch, we don't know if it was Dave in the car. But it is his car and he isn't at home or with Reid. We have to wait until the fire is out and the pathologist can get to the body.'

'She's killing them, Morgan. It's her. I know it is.'

'No one is killing anyone, Hotch.' Morgan said as Hotch stood on shaky legs with his help. 'This was an accident. A freak accident. If the car hadn't come the other way, He would have got out. No body killed him.'

'You know it's Dave in there don't you.' Hotch said, tears in his eyes.

An ambulance had arrived and the medics were treating the occupants of the other car for shock. No one else was hurt, only the poor devil in the first car. Hotch was crying now and hanging onto Morgan as they crossed to his car.

'I need to get to sit with Reid.' Hotch said, desperately trying to claw back some control. 'He can't wake up alone. I promised he would have someone with him.'

'Don't worry. Garcia is with him. I sent her there as soon as I knew Dave wasn't there. Hotch, I'm taking you to my place. The cops are running this scene. We need to get out of their way.'

'This is my fault, Derek......' Hotch whispered. 'My fault....... Oh Dave, I'm so sorry!'

Morgan slowly led Hotch back to his car. He felt his own tears welling up in his eyes as he glanced back at the burning wrecks. The flames had died down now and the victim in the front of the car was clearly visible.

He opened his car door and Hotch sat in without protest. Morgan lifted his feet into the footwell and closed the door. He ran around to the other side of the car and got in. Hotch hadn't moved. Morgan leaned across and reached for his seat belt and strapped him in.

'You ok Hotch?'

Hotch was silent. Shock had set in and he wasn't hearing anything. Carefully, so as not to startle his passenger, Morgan drove back to his apartment. It wasn't far, but he drove slowly. Hotch looked sick and fragile, and Morgan was worried for him.

He pulled up in his place in the underground car park, and ran around to the passenger's side. He opened the door an unfastened the seat belt. Hotch hadn't said a word all the journey. He wasn't asleep but he seemed to be oblivious to what was going on around him. Derek pulled him round and helped him out of the seat, and pushed the door closed with his foot.

He started to help Hotch to the lift when a voice behind him stopped him in his tracks.

'Where are you taking him?'

Morgan turned to face a tall dark haired woman whom he had not seen before.

'Who are you?'

'Aaron Hotchner is mine. I will take him from here.'

Morgan turned Hotch's face towards his. 'Do you want to go with this woman?'

A flash of fear crossed Hotch's eyes. He was confused He was drawn to her and wanted to be with her. But he was afraid of her too. 'No I don't.' he whispered. 'Please, she is evil. Don't let her touch you.'

Morgan looked back at her.

'Sorry Ma'am, but he doesn't want to come with you.'

Hotch almost changed his mind, he was so ruled by her presence.

Morgan began walking away from her towards the lift. He felt Hotch tremble in his arms, and he wondered why he was afraid of her. Once upstairs, he would get him to explain.

When he reached the lift, he looked back. She had gone.

-0-0-0-

Up in his apartment, Morgan sat Hotch on the couch and went to the kitchen, the whole time talking to him, trying to get a response. He made Hotch some sweet tea and himself a coffee. He took the drink to Hotch and put it in his hand.

'Drink it slowly, Hotch.'

Aaron pushed it away.

'I can't eat or drink anything. I will be sick.'

'Is that why you look so ill? You haven't been eating or drinking?' Morgan was shocked. 'How long?'

'A few days? Three? Four? I lost count.' Hotch said softly. 'She's doing this to me.'

'Who? Why?' Morgan turned Hotch to face him. 'What's going on, Hotch?'

'She put Spencer in a coma, she's murdered Dave, and slowly she's killing me. But I don't understand why Dave. He didn't know about us.' Hotch's voice was little more than a whisper. Tears were streaming down his face, the blisters starting to show on his reddened skin.

'Dave did know, Hotch. Reid told him he was worried about you.'

'Oh my god.' Hotch sighed. 'She killed them.' He pulled at Morgan's arm. 'She's evil, Derek. I don't understand why she wants me. Why? I want to be with her. She is like a drug. I only feel whole when I'm with her. I can't think, Morgan. I can't believe Dave has gone.' He looked up at him, his words disjointed and rambling. 'He was my best and closest friend, and now he's gone and it's my fault!'

Morgan could see that Hotch was desperately trying not to cry. He sat on the couch next to him and put his arm around him, and they cried together.

Suddenly Hotch pushed him away.

'Feel sick.' he mumbled through tears. 'Bathroom...'

Morgan helped him up and half carried him to the bathroom, where he was violently sick. Morgan was frightened at the ferocity of it, and clung onto Hotch as his body heaved and choked blood into the toilet.

When he calmed down and the convulsion eased, Morgan sat back on the floor.

'Hotch Man, how long have you been doing this?'

'Don't know.' he said too softly. 'Days.....don't know how many.... think I'm dying.' He turned his face to Morgan's. 'Only stops when I'm with her.'

'Hotch, you are ill. You need to see a doctor.'

'No doctor, Morgan. She's doing this. She's some kind of Devil'

'Hotch, no. There's no such thing. It's co-incidence. You are sick. I'm calling the doctor.'

Aaron was too weak for him to protest. Morgan took him around the waist and half carried him through to his bedroom, laid him on the bed and covered him over.

'I'm calling a doctor now, I'm afraid that otherwise you might die.'

'Morgan, don't please....... Find her for me......' But his weak protests went unheeded.


	7. The Funeral

MAE FLOWER  
Chapter 7  
The Funeral

_**Ashes to ashes; dust to dust.**_

The doctor wanted Hotch in hospital, but he refused to go. He didn't have the strength to get off the bed, so Morgan spent most of his time in the bedroom with him. Strauss had given him time off as long as there were no cases. There wasn't much left of the BAU at the moment, but Morgan would be called in to lead what was left of the team if anything came in.

Hotch was forcing himself to take a little water as the doctor had insisted.

'You will die if you don't.' he had said. He had taken blood and sputum samples and said he would call in every day to monitor him if he wouldn't go to hospital.

Hotch guessed he was dying. He was bleeding heavily now, and even the smallest drink made him sick. Morgan was terrified to leave him in case he died right there in his bed.

The body in the car was Dave. The remains of his ID and gun suggested it, and DNA confirmed it. Hotch had been clinging to the hope that it was a terrible mistake, and broke down when the news came through.

He hadn't seen Mae since the incident in the car park. He was terrified of her, but he knew that if he didn't see her he was going to die. His waking hours were filled with thoughts of her, his sleep disturbed by frightening dreams of her.

He hoped that she would be at the funeral.

The funeral was set for Thursday, and Hotch insisted on going against Morgan's advice. Hotch asked him to go to his house and pick up a clean suit for him, and he had a wheel chair from the hospital.

The doctor advised on him not going, but Hotch needed to say goodbye to his friend.

He never would know why Dave was driving that road that night. The guilt that he was coming to see him was overwhelming, and in his weakened state he couldn't hold back the tears.

-0-0-0-

Reid was still in a coma. The respirator hissed and the heart monitor beeped in unison, but there were no other sounds. The doctors were baffled. There had been no reaction from neuro checks and stimuli, although Garcia read to him until her throat hurt. Emily took turns with her, but when they were not with Reid, they were visiting Morgan and Hotch.

They were both shocked at Hotch's condition, and they both made a valiant if failed effort to not show their fear. But it didn't really matter. Hotch knew.

-0-0-0-

The morning of the funeral, Morgan ran Hotch a bath and carried Hotch to the bathroom. The water was warm, but still Hotch flinched when Morgan carefully lowered him into the water. He was afraid to leave him alone while he bathed, in case he fainted and slipped below the water. Morgan sat facing the other way, talking to him all the time, not wanting him to pass out. Afterwards he carried him back to the bedroom wrapped in a towel and dressed him in a white shirt and dark grey suit and tie. The clothes hung on his thin frame. When Morgan lifted him off the bed and carried him down stairs to the car, he almost cried. The strong athletically built man was wasted to nothing. Morgan feared that this would be his last outing. Carefully, almost as if he was afraid of breaking him, he sat him in the car, and strapped him in. Aaron moaned with the effort of staying upright, and felt his stomach knot in retaliation.

Morgan drove slowly to the church. Every little bump in the road hurt Aaron, and Morgan was scared he wouldn't make it to the church.

There weren't many at the funeral, although those that were there were grief stricken. Morgan had called the Galens, who flew in from Indianapolis, and one of Dave's ex-wives came, but she stood apart from the others. The little group from the BAU stood together, and cried on each other as the coffin was lowered into the dark earth. It was a simple and quick ceremony, the Italian priest had actually known Dave, and he too had tears on his cheeks as he uttered the words on the service.

Aaron was slumped in the wheel chair, grief stricken and crying. Morgan had strapped him into the seat since he was too weak to sit up. Alicia Galen approached him and took his hand.

'He was a good man.' she said, clinging onto his hand, not minding that he wasn't wearing a prosthetic. 'He gave us our lives back.'

Hotch looked up at her with dark tear filled eyes.

'He was a private man.' Hotch whispered, 'but those who he opened up to loved him.'

She nodded and squeezed his hand, and returned to her brother and sister.

Emily came and knelt in front of him.

'When this is over', she said, 'come and stay with me for a while and get your strength up.'

Hotch nodded faintly. 'Reid should be here.' he said. 'I need to go and see him.'

'I'll take you.' she said, and kissed him lightly on the forehead, holding both his hands in hers.

Aaron had a daisy in his lap. A rose seemed wrong somehow for Dave, a daisy felt just right. He leaned forwards and dropped it onto the coffin as the soil was sprinkled over it. He watched as others followed his lead and dropped flowers onto the coffin with the soil. He closed his eyes and listened. The birds were singing in the trees on this cold sunny day – the kind of days that Dave liked. And the harsh and sad sounds of people crying as they said goodbye to a good man.

The group of mourners began to move away from the graveside. Morgan was about to wheel Hotch away too.

'Please,' he sobbed. 'I need some time with him.'

'I'll come back for you.' he said, understanding.

And Aaron was left alone. He started to talk to his friend.

'Dave, will you ever forgive me for what I've d-done to you?' he said in a low choked voice. 'I am so so s-sorry; words don't f-feel enough. I wish I could take your place.'

Aaron's words failed him, and he broke down. Sitting there alone crying for his best friend, he felt unworthy of the closeness he had felt for him.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. He took his hands from his face and turned his head.

'I still love you, you know.' she said. 'Why did you reject me?'

'I was afraid of you.' he said through his tears. 'You killed him, you hurt Spencer, and I am dying. Why are you doing this?'

'He wasn't supposed to die. I cannot kill people. He died because he was too slow to stop the car. It was his own fault that he died.'

'Why did you hurt him? He was my friend. I loved him.'

'He wanted to come between me and you. The other one I want to hurt too, but until now he has been keeping you alive. Now I have you back again, he is no longer needed. I can put him out of the picture.'

'Please don't hurt Morgan!' he said. 'I'll go with you, but please don't hurt him.'

'Will you come now?'

Aaron nodded to her, and she undid the straps holding him in the seat, and lifted him out. As their skin touched he felt the now familiar feeling of shock and pain pass through his body. He wanted to hold her. He put his arms around her neck and rested his head on her shoulder. The smell of her hair was almost too much to bear as he clung to her.

The terrible sick feeling was fading now as she carried him into the trees that surrounded the little church yard.

Now she had him, she would not relinquish him.

Now he was with her he would stay with her, to protect his friends.

-0-0-0-

Morgan was talking to the Galens, hearing how they were faring now. They had sold the house and split the money. They had each enough to buy a small apartment and were gradually putting the horrible experiences of the last twenty years behind them. They had stayed in touch with Rossi, and were had been devastated at the news of his death.

Morgan checked the time and decided to go and collect Aaron. He was afraid to leave him alone for too long. As he approached the chair from behind he knew something was wrong. He had a nasty feeling of foreboding as he turned the chair to face him. Hotch was gone. The straps undone and the chair empty.

He looked around. He was too sick to stand, let alone walk. Where the hell was he?

'Hotch! Where are you?' he called into the icy air. There was no answer, nor did he expect one. He quickly rejoined the others.

'Something has happened.' he said to the women. 'I left Hotch by the grave side, and he's gone.'

'Gone?' Jordan said.

'But he's too ill to go anywhere!' Emily blanched.

Then Garcia said, 'She came for him.'

Morgan looked horrified. 'Oh no!'

They rushed back to where the chair stood empty and started to search. But they all knew in their hearts that it would be a fruitless task. If she had come for him, then he was gone.

-0-0-0-

Hotch had fainted in Mae's arms. He had no strength left and his arms loosened around her neck. She took him to her own place where no one would find them. As he awoke, he immediately felt better. The sickness had gone, and he tried to get up. But he was restrained.

'Mae, don't tie me. I won't leave you.'

He realised that he was alone. He opened his eyes to see where he was. He could move his head but he couldn't see anything through the swirling mist that surrounded him. He pulled feebly at the restraints.

'Mae! Please don't leave me like this. Please free me.'

-0-0-0-

'We have to find him.' Morgan said in frustration. 'He is going to die if we don't.'

'I'll take a look in the church. Maybe she took him inside out of the cold.' Jordan said.

'Ok, we'll carry on out here.' Morgan touched his nose with the back of his hand. He never had nose bleeds, but his head was starting to ache and he squeezed the bridge of his nose to stop the bleeding. Suddenly the pain grew too much, and with a gasp of agony, he fell to his knees on the grass.

'Derek!' Garcia shouted, and was by his side in an instant. 'What is it?'

Emily was calling the EMS, Morgan was clutching his head.

'It's her....' he managed to say before he passed out with the pain and fell to the ground.

-0-0-0-

She went back to Aaron's side.

'No one will come between us now, my love. We are safe.'

'What have you done?' whispered Aaron. 'Have you hurt Morgan?'

'He's not hurting now, My Love. Now we can be together.'

'Why are you doing this?' he asked, trying to pull at the restraints. 'I promise I won't leave you. Please don't hurt my friends.'

'You cannot leave me. You are the only one who will do. I have tried others but they all died. You are stronger than most. It will work with you. Then when I have finished with you......... Well, you don't need to know that yet. Just remember, your friends won't die as long as I need you for my purpose.'

'What is your purpose for me? What do you want?'

'Soon you will find out, Aaron My Sweet Love. Very soon now.' and she bent down and kissed his lips. The agony and ecstasy of her touch sent his weak body into a convulsion. His back arched and his limbs pulled against the straps holding him down.

He had no chance.

He belonged to her and he was captivated by her.


	8. The Night

**MAE FLOWER  
**Chapter 8  
The Night

"_**The nights are wholesome; then no planets strike,  
No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm,  
So hallow'd and so gracious is the time." – William Shakespeare, Hamlet**_

Morgan was bleeding from his nose and ears onto the ground. Garcia was holding him.

'Baby, please, speak to me. Don't leave us, we need you....I need you.'

Morgan looked up into her eyes.

'I love you Princess.' he said as his vision misted over with blood that trickled from the corners of his eyes. Garcia wiped it away.

'Stay with us, Baby...'

'Head hurts.' he whispered, desperately hanging onto consciousness. 'Must find Hotch – it is the..... answer to all this. The woman.......' he gasped with pain but he clung onto life.

'We'll find him, Sweetheart. We need you to help us!'

'The ambulance is on its way.' Jordan said. Emily was standing by her. Is this what happened to Reid? Was Morgan going to fall into a coma too? If he lost consciousness, they wouldn't be able to waken him, they could lose him too.

She knelt next to him with Pen.

'You are going to be ok.' she said. 'Just keep awake.'

He looked at her, and she saw fear in his eyes. Then they glazed over and Morgan fell into a coma.

-0-0-0-

All the other times that Mae had tried this, the man had died. This one she was determined would live long enough to give her what she wanted. She dripped water onto Aaron's dry cracked lips. He licked at it eagerly but fearfully. He did not trust her. She could be poisoning him, but he needed the water. He had had none for almost a week, and he was desperate to be able to take some and keep it. Now he was with her the sickness had gone. He tried to reach up to her, to touch her, but she refused to release him until the time was right.

'Please, Mae.' he begged. 'I won't run from you. I promise I will stay.'

'The only reason you will stay,' she countered, 'is so that I will not harm your friends. But there are only the women left now, and I won't hurt them.'

'Why did you have to hurt Morgan? He cannot find me, and I cannot get away. Why did you do it?'

'All the time he is alive, he can influence you. He is in a coma now, and you cannot change that. He has no hold over you now.'

Aaron thought of Morgan being in a coma because of him. If only he had realised sooner, he could have kept away from them to keep them safe. Now it was too late.

'Will they ever recover?' Hotch asked.

'If I allow them to. They belong to me now. It is unfortunate that I lost David Rossi.'

Aaron was still having difficulty thinking about Dave without crying. Tears rolled down his cheeks and into his hair. She turned his face towards her.

'Tonight is the night. Tonight you will father my child. Then I will have no further use for you.'

Aaron's eyes widened in shock. 'Is that all you want of me?' he said in distress. 'You said you loved me!'

'I neither love you nor hate you. I am simply indifferent to you.' she said dismissively. 'The child must be conceived on holy ground in the light of a full moon.'

'It won't work, Mae.' he said, pulling again at the restraints. 'I am too sick.'

'You had better start praying that it does work, or I have no use for you.'

She approached him and released his arm restraints and re tied them in front of him. She pulled him roughly into a sitting position, and released his legs. She tied them together allowing a little extra so that he could walk.

'Now stand.' she said to him.

Aaron made an effort to stand up, but he was too weak, and his knees buckled. She pulled him up again.

'You need to walk. Now follow me.'

She held onto the rope around his wrists and pulled him along through the mist. He staggered and fell, and struggled to his feet again. As the mist cleared, he found himself back in the church yard where only hours earlier he had watched the remains of his friend be buried in the ground. Now he was coming here to die too.

She pulled him past the freshly covered grave and towards the church itself. Past the railings that cast eerie shadows of silver grey across the grass. He shuddered in the icy cold of the night. His knees gave way again and she didn't wait for him to get up. She dragged him along the gravel pathway through the iron gates to the door to the tower. The stones tore at his skin as she pulled him along. He tried to struggle. He was too weak to prevent her plan.

She paused to unlock the door. He slipped his hand into his pocket and turned on his phone.

'What are you doing?'

He forced himself onto his knees in the gravel. She turned on him, striking him across the face. He fell back down. Rolling onto his back he looked up at her. She reached down to him and took his phone out of his pocket.

'So you hoped to call on your friends to help you?' She threw the phone into the trees. 'It is far too late. You will die here tonight, but your legacy will live on.'

She yanked him up again.

'I do not want to hurt the women. But if they come here and disturb what has to happen, they will go the same way as the men.' She dragged him through the door.

'Why do you need my child?' Hotch gasped as he tried to get up.

'You have the qualities we want in the next generation. Courage, strength, intelligence, and genetically you fit the pattern. Everything else comes from me.'

Aaron reached up to hold the handrail as she pulled him up the first step into the tower.

-0-0-0-

Morgan was in a deep coma by the time the emergency services had arrived. He was breathing on his own, but they expected that to change as it had in Reid. The three women were left standing in the churchyard as the fourth of their friends became lost to them.

'He said Hotch was the answer.' Jordan said. 'What did he mean?'

'I don't think we will know until we find him.'

'He's not here.' Garcia said. 'If she took him, he could be anywhere.'

'We'll go back to the BAU and try to track him.' Emily said. 'Would you be able to find his cell?'

'Only if it's switched on.' Garcia said. 'And he would have turned it off for the service.'

'Let's hope he thinks about it.' Jordan said. 'He was ill, he might not.'

The three women got into the car and Emily drove through the streets. It was getting cold as evening was falling. Emily thought of Hotch lying somewhere alone and in the cold. And here they were driving in the opposite direction.

-0-0-0-

Mae wasn't strong enough to drag Aaron up the stairs. She waited as he forced himself to stand, hanging onto the rail to stop himself from falling.

'I won't be able to father a child.' he said. 'I am sick and weak. As much as I want you, I haven't the strength to see it through.'

'You are my last chance.' she hissed. 'I only need you to live a few more minutes, to fulfil your destiny.

'Destiny?' he sighed softly. 'You are not my destiny. You altered my path.'

'I have been watching you for a long time, Aaron. I know you are right. The other's died, but you are still living. I know you are the right one.'

She pulled on the rope again, and his hands slipped from the rail. Once again he was on his knees. This time he fell forwards, and rolled onto his back as she pulled at him.

'Get up.' she said, her voice full of spite and anger. 'Don't ruin everything now. If you die here, I would have accomplished nothing.'

'I can't.' Aaron said softly. 'Can't get up.'

She pulled again.

'Get up the bloody stairs or I'll kill you right here.'

-0-0-0-

'I have it!' Garcia yelled. 'I have his phone! Quickly!'

Jordan and Emily were there in a second.

'Have you found him? Pen? Where is he?'

He's by the church! she said. 'Right where we were just now!'

'But he wasn't there – we searched the place.'

'Well he is now – or at least his phone is.'

The three women left the bunker and ran to the lift. Garcia, not for the first time, wishing she was an agent, so that she could be more use to the team.

What was left of it.

-0-0-0-

'Kill me here....' he said, '....and you will never get what you want.'

'Get the hell up!' she screamed. 'Time is running out!'

'Running out..... for what?' he gasped as she pulled him across the first landing and against the first step of the next flight. Hotch's jacket was dragged off of his shoulders, and his back scraped along the wooden tread. He could feel the cold of the night and he shivered as he tried again to get up. On his hands and knees, he climbed the steps after her. Through all this, he couldn't look at her without his heart beating harder in his chest. She literally took his breath away.

'You will find out soon enough. You know your destiny and the part you must play. But it must by in the full moon light. Get up and hurry.'

She pulled the rope and his hands moved from under him. He fell forward on his face and he tasted blood. It dripped onto the step and he crawled through it to the next landing.

-0-0-0-

Emily drove too fast through the quiet streets, and back to the little church.

What had been heart breaking just hours before was now frightening as the silver finger like shadows of the trees moved as the wind increased. Emily shivered, and not just because it was cold.

It was Jordan who found the phone.

'It's been switched on.' she said, 'but he does not appear to have been making a call.'

'It was for us to find.' Emily said. 'So where is he?'

They started at one corner of the little grave yard, and systematically searched the grounds by torch light.

'Maybe he is in the church.' Garcia said as they reached the far side of the grounds.

They shone their torches ahead of them to the main door of the little church. It opened with a loud creak that seemed to split the night. Emily un holstered her gun, as did Jordan, and Emily shone her torch around the interior of the church.

'Hotch, are you in here?'

The three women entered the church. It felt eerie and the torch light seemed to emphasise the darkness now the moonlight couldn't reach them.

'Hotch?'

Starting at the back, they searched the little church inch by inch.

-0-0-0-

Mae had reached the top of the stairs, and opened the door onto the roof, pulling Aaron up after her. His clothes were torn and dirty, and his face was bleeding, but this didn't matter. He opened his eyes and saw the clouds scudding across the sky in front of the moon. He was so tired and ill, but she pulled him to the centre of the roof space, and laid him on his back. She released the ropes around his wrists and ankles, but he was too weak to escape.

Standing in the moonlight she took a knife from her belt, and then removed her white dress and stood naked in front of him. Her sheer beauty hurt Aaron's eyes and he was mesmerised by her. Using the knife she cut Aaron's clothes from his body so that he was lying on them, naked in the moonlight. Despite everything, his body responded. She knelt astride him and kissed his bloody lips.

'Don't do this..... please....' he whispered, but she took him anyway.

His scream echoed through the church below them.


	9. On The Rooftop

**MAE FLOWER  
**Chapter 9  
On The Rooftop

_**There are nights when the wolves are silent and only the moon howls. ~George Carlin**_

The women froze as the scream echoed through the church.

'He's on the roof.' Emily said. 'Quickly! Find the way to get up there.'

The second scream made their blood run cold in their veins.

-0-0-0-

The feeling of her being so close was ecstasy. It took Aaron's frail body and twisted it agonisingly. His hands touched her silhouette in the silver moonlight and tears fell from his dark and beautiful eyes. He screamed again as she moved on him, he being able to do nothing in return, he was completely and utterly broken. He arched his back as pain shot through him. She leaned down to him and grasped his hair with both her hands.

'I have won you, and now you are mine.' she hissed. Her words had no love in them; she despised his weakness and frailty. 'When I am done with you, you will die.'

She moved on him again and his tears fell harder. He watched her above him against the cloud filled sky as the wind blew coldly through their limbs.

'Don't touch me.' she said. She pulled his hands away from her waist where they had come to rest, and she held them to the floor on either side of his head.

'Mae. I love you.' Aaron gasped as she threw her head back and laughed, her black hair against her white skin sent shivers through Aaron's body. She was ethereal and agonisingly beautiful in the moonlight.

He wanted to reach up to her, draw her close and kiss her wonderful lips but she held him down, and he stared up at her, his tears misting his vision.

Then she had what she wanted, she stood up and looked down on him. His eyes were closed and he was quite still. She stepped away and turned her back on him, and faced the moon, her body casting a shadow across Aaron's body.

He blinked open his eyes, and stared at her.

'Mae, don't leave me.'

She turned abruptly towards him again.

'I have what I came here for.' she said. 'What is left I have no use for.'

She nudged his body with her shoe, and he rolled onto his side.

'What is left of you is nothing.' and this time she kicked him. He had no energy left to cry or call for help as she brutally finished off what she no longer required.

-0-0-0-

'There's no way up from inside.' Jordan said. 'There must be a door to the tower outside.

They ran out of the church into the gathering wind. It was starting to rain and Garcia shivered when she thought of Hotch being out here somewhere with this woman. Emily found the door into the tower through a set of iron gates at the back of the church. The door was open, and with her torch shining ahead of her, she led Jordan and Garcia into the tiny entrance hall. She shone her torch up the steps and held it, shining on a patch of smeared blood.

'They came this way.' she said. 'Come on, quickly.'

-0-0-0-

The rain was cold on Aaron's skin. He was being kicked viciously now, but he could no longer feel it. It was all part of the hate and derision the woman had for him. In his weakness, all the pain and distress merged into one longing for the end to come. Her rejection of him was like his own rejection of life.

Suddenly the kicking stopped. He opened his eyes and looked at her. She had slipped back into her white dress and it clung wetly to her. The knife was back in her waist band.

She pushed him onto his back.

'Please, get help for me.' he whispered.

She knelt across his chest and lifted his head by his hair. The rain on his face diluted the tears and washed away the blood. She hit his head back down onto the roof.

'There is no help for you.' she said. 'You will die now.'

-0-0-0-

Every few steps Emily froze as the stair creaked under her weight. They saw more blood and scraps of fabric caught in the cracks of the wood. One wet patch of blood made Emily's stomach clench as they got near the top of the stairway.

The door at the top was closed, but they could hear sounds coming from without.

Emily opened the door carefully without alerting the woman of their presence.

She saw the woman smack Hotch's head against the roof. She saw the patch of blood that appeared.

She and Jordan raised their guns.

'Get away from him!' Emily growled. The woman looked up in surprise.

'Ahh so you found us.' Mae said, making no effort to move off Hotch who wasn't moving now. 'How very clever. I didn't think you'd be able to do it without the men.'

'I said', Emily said, louder this time, 'get away from him.'

'It's too late.' she answered. 'He's dead. They always die.' and she looked down at Hotch, feeling something inside her for the first time. 'It's a shame though. I didn't want this one to die. He had something that the others didn't.'

'Get away from him NOW! Or I will shoot you where you are.' Emily said.

Jordan circled around so that she was standing to the side. Garcia stood in the door way, her heart in her mouth.

It couldn't end like this, with Hotch naked and bleeding and helpless in the freezing rain....

Jordan cocked her gun.

'Move away from him.' she repeated.

Mae was still holding Hotch's hair. She let go and his head dropped back onto the roof. Very slowly she stood up and stepped back from him. Garcia ran forward removing her coat and wrapping it round Hotch's still form.

The woman stood before Jordan and Emily. Slowly she slid the knife from her belt. Suddenly a pain shot through Emily's head and she dropped her gun and clutched at her head. She was on her knees....

Jordan fired her weapon, drilling a neat hole between Mae's hard snake like eyes.

She taggered back a step.

But she didn't fall.

Emily was on her knees, her hands on either side of her head, moaning in agony.

'You can't kill me that easily, you stupid woman.' she said. 'Haven't you worked it out yet?'

She went back to Aaron, who was now being held by Garcia.

'Why did you have to kill him? You took what you wanted. There was no need to kill him.' Garcia sobbed.

'I didn't kill him. He died. There is a difference.'

She pushed Garcia away from him with her foot, and bent down to him. Easily she lifted him up and carried him to the edge of the roof. A tiny trickle of blood ran into her eyes, and she brushed it away.

'Leave us now.' was all she said. She held the knife to Aaron's neck.

Emily looked up at her as the pain in her head faded. She was weakening.

She climbed onto the parapet and faced the moon through the scudding clouds. Her dress, blood spattered now, blew wildly around her. She held out the body in her arms as a sacrifice. Emily rushed forwards, and Mae swung round, losing her balance, she slipped over the edge. Emily caught her arm, and Jordan ran forwards and clutched at Hotch's hand.

Jordan pulled Hotch back onto the roof, but Mae was sliding out of Emily's grasp. As their fingers finally separated, the iron railings below seemed to beckon to her, and seconds later, Mae hung across them, the wicked spikes through her body. Emily looked down at her as blood quickly soaked her dress.

Emily was sure she was smiling.

-0-0-0-

Jordan was trying to start Hotch's heart, but he was weak and sick, and she couldn't get it to beat. Garcia called the paramedics. Then she knelt at Hotch's head and started to breathe into his lungs. Emily sat by the parapet in shock.

The rain was falling hard now. Emily wanted to take Aaron somewhere warm, and she hoped that where ever he was now, he was safe.

After a few minutes, she took over from Jordan as they waited for the medics to arrive. The moon was covered by clouds and the cold rain had turned to sleet. Jordan knelt by him holding his hands and rubbing them between hers. They were cold and still, but she was determined that he should live.

-0-0-0-

_The cold emptiness..... The world without Mae..... he didn't want to come back to. He melted back into the softness of nothing, allowed the nothing to embrace him, its fingers deep in his brain replacing the turmoil and grief with emptiness that couldn't hurt or destroy..... He could hear voices calling him, but he wanted to stay here, stay cradled in the void of sweet death where pain and distress were meaningless..... Emotion faded away as steel tentacles of ethereal mist took away everything that he could die for – thoughts and memories of love and fear and hate and joy.... and still the voices called him.... A sudden great agony passed through him, and his now no longer wanted body convulsed as the shock passed through him, and his heart beat once and stopped..... once more the pain, and this time the heart didn't stop after one beat, but clung onto life despite him wanting the freedom of death......_

-0-0-0-

'We've got him back.' the medic said, and they wrapped him in a silver blanket and lifted his frail body onto the stretcher. They laid Garcia's coat over him, and took him from the roof and down the stairs.

'I am going to check on the woman.' Emily said, and the three followed the medics down the stairs.

But when she reached the railings where she fell, she was gone.

Emily shone her torch on the spikes and they glistened with thick wet blood, but there was no sign of Mae.

_Could she have survived the fall?_

They looked around for a blood trail but there was none.

'How did she get herself off the spikes?' Jordan said, shocked.

Emily swung her torch around. 'There must be someone else here.'

'The head shot didn't kill her......' Jordan said.

Emily turned away from the railings.

'We need to go to the hospital with Hotch.' she said.

-0-0-0-

Hotch was dehydrated and needed food and water. He was on a glucose drip but he was still unconscious. The doctor said it was to be expected after his ordeal, but Emily was still afraid. The woman had a hold over him, and her body had disappeared.

Was she still alive?

Was the hold broken?

Emily didn't know.

They went to see Morgan and Reid. They were together in a ward on their own. The doctors said it was a rare infection that they couldn't identify, but Emily knew what it was. They sat with them in shifts.

Reid opened his eyes first.

'Spencer! Welcome back!' Jordan said. He smiled up at her.

-0-0-0-

EPILOGUE

Within a few hours of Mae's death, both Reid and Morgan were awake. Neither felt any adverse effects from their ordeal, other than Morgan's recurring headache. Reid was shocked and devastated to hear about David's death, and he insisted on visiting the grave.

'I need to go, Emily.' he said. The doctors said it would be ok. Morgan stayed at the hospital and Emily drove Reid to the church. While he stood by the freshly filled grave, Emily went to check the railings again.

The blood had all washed away now, although trace would probably be identifiable. If she hadn't been with Garcia and Jordan, she would have thought she had dreamed it all.

That and the fact that Hotch was still in a critical condition in the ICU.

She slowly wandered back to Reid who was crying alone by the grave.

'Did she do it, Emily?'

'It was an accident. Whether she had anything to do with it, I doubt we shall ever know.' she said. 'But Dave was a careful, good driver.....'

-0-0-0-

The doctors didn't know when Hotch would wake up. It was possible that he wouldn't ever waken. He was severely malnourished and that alone could cause serious damage. The five of them ensured that he was never left alone. They talked to him about their cases, and told him how much they needed him back again.

Maybe one day, he would join them again.......

**END**

**A/N That's the end of this series. I'll start a new one next. Thank you to all my lovely reviewers. You give me the encouragement to carry on writing.  
Aggie x**


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